Health actions and the response of the population on the incidence of COVID-19 cases in Santiago de Cuba

Abstract

Objective: To determine the influence of indicators referring to health actions and the response of the population on the number of COVID-19 cases.

Methods: An ecological study of correlation of the incidence of COVID-19 was carried out in Santiago de Cuba province from January 15 to February 4, 2021. Were studied differents indicators, as: the contacts detected, the active sources, the sanitary inspections carried out, the fines imposed, the stoppages of services, the self-investigations, the spontaneous attention and consultations for respiratory infections acute, investigations in primary health care, suspected cases and admissions to isolation centers and at home. They were used as techniques for statistical processing regression by partial least squares and implicative statistical analysis.

Results: The number of cases was significantly correlated with the number of contacts, active foci, spontaneous consultations for acute respiratory infections, fines and screening with correlation values between 0.45 and 0.93. The statistical techniques used agreed that the indicators that most influenced the number of COVID-19 cases were the numbers of contacts detected, active sources and people who voluntarily attend a consultation for respiratory diseases.

Conclusions: From the determination of the indicators that have most influenced the increase in the number of cases with COVID-19 in the province of Santiago de Cuba, it is necessary that the main measures to control the epidemic are directed towards these indicators, without neglecting the rest of the measures.